Taxpayers' £10m settles claims against councils and hospitals

More than £10million of taxpayers' money has been used to "cover up" potentially embarrassing claims against public bodies in London.

An Evening Standard investigation found 33 councils and health trusts in the capital paid to settle 807 cases, rather than air them in open court.

The figures, obtained using freedom of information laws, reveal town halls and hospitals across the country handed over a total of £94million to settle more than 3,000 cases, including 305 claims of discrimination on grounds of disability, sex, race or age.

They included the case of social worker Nevres Kemal, 46, who tried to raise concerns about Haringey council's treatment of children before the death of Baby P.

The council singled her out as a whistleblower, falsely accused her of child abuse and investigated her nine-year-old daughter's welfare. During what she described as a four-year "witch-hunt", Miss Kemal lost her job, faced a police investigation and her family and health fell apart.

Haringey eventually dropped the case and paid her undisclosed compensation - one of 78 claims it settled out of court for a total of £913,000, including 19 alleging racial discrimination; 13 each for alleged sexual and disability bias; seven claims of age discrimination and one on religious grounds.

Miss Kemal spoke out about her case in the public interest. Out-of-court settlements usually contain confidentiality clauses which prevent details being aired in public, and most public bodies approached by the Standard under the Freedom of Information Act refused to reveal any details for that reason.

However, 86 health trusts across the country, including 20 in London, admitted paying a total £49.7 million to settle 1,220 claims out of court. And 65 councils, including 13 in the capital, used £44.5 million of public money to end 2,099 claims.

Waltham Forest council paid out most among London public bodies - £2.17 million to halt 197 claims. Westminster paid out £2.02 million to 109 staff but would give no further details.

Lambeth paid £682,000 to settle 65 claims, and Hammersmith & Fulham settled 78 with £561,000. However, critics today warned many of the claims uncovered by the Standard were spurious and highlighted the "compensation culture" pervading the British legal system.

North Middlesex Hospital paid £282,000 to settle 23 cases, including £500 for a "visitor who walked into a door". NHS Camden settled four cases for £14,000, including £525 to "a nurse who brought a claim of injury after having to assist a colleague in turning a patient in bed".

In March, Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke announced plans to "fix the no-win, no-fee agreements which have made it so costly for businesses to defend spurious claims that they often pay out, even when they know they are in the right".